


Her Dad's Boyfriend

by jane_x80



Series: Yellow Brick Road [5]
Category: NCIS
Genre: Acceptance, Hanging Out, Insecure Tony, M/M, Softball
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-28
Updated: 2017-01-28
Packaged: 2018-09-19 20:10:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9458633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jane_x80/pseuds/jane_x80
Summary: Lauren liked her dad's boyfriend. He was a nice guy, and he made her dad happy. However, it seemed like her friends and their moms and even her softball team coaches also seemed to like her dad's boyfriend a little too much, if you knew what she meant. Amazing that the man still seemed so insecure.Another prequel toYellow Brick Road, takes place somewhere betweenGet the Show on the Road (aka the Meet Cute)andHit the Road. Not long before s12e24 Neverland happens.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Red_Pink_Dots](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Red_Pink_Dots/gifts).



> This story is for red_pink_dots, who has been a fan of Derek from the beginning.
> 
> I wrote this story sometime last year and kept fiddling with it because I was somehow never happy enough with it to post it. The story is from Lauren's POV, giving us a (hopefully) different perspective on Tony.
> 
> I've been kind of blocked lately, and a little depressed and mopey. And I tinkered around with this story. I'm not sure I'm happy with it, but I am at the point where I feel like if I keep tinkering with it I'm going to make it worse, and if I keep it and don't post it then I never will? So hopefully it's OK.
> 
> Rated T for language.

Lauren always knew that her father was good looking. Even when she was playing in little league, her friends’ moms had always flocked to him when he came to her games. Now that she was in college and the star pitcher of her college fast pitch softball team, it got even stranger because her coaches and even some of her teammates started looking that way at her father. And sometimes, the things that she overheard in the locker room, from her teammates to her coaches, made her cringe.

But, a lifetime of having a hot single dad has inured her to most things. Her dad never embarrassed her by actually entertaining any of the offers made, and besides, he would probably have been more inclined to respond should some of Lauren’s friends’ dads have come on to him. Not that he was strictly gay, but he’d explained to her and Cassie long ago that he would most likely be with a man than a woman.

And besides, Dad was seeing someone. Tony insisted that they were only having fun, but Lauren knew that her father wanted more with the man. Wanted a commitment. Maybe even a ring. But Lauren stayed out of their relationship, other than having fun when hanging out with Tony.

Which was how it came up that she had a game on Sunday morning – they were playing the University of Maryland and it was kind of a big deal. They had all three been watching a movie together, she and Tony each snuggling into her dad making him the filling in their sandwich. They were watching _Bull Durham_ , and they’d been discussing _A League of Their Own_ , and Dad mentioned that she was the starting pitcher on Sunday.

Tony had been a two-sport varsity athlete during his college days and he was excited for her.

“You should come,” the words came out of Lauren’s mouth, a simple and casual invitation, and it completely stunned Tony.

He stared at her, green eyes wide and scared. “W-what?” he’d asked.

“You should come,” Lauren had said again, rolling her eyes. Every so often, they would say something seemingly innocuous and Tony would freeze and look like a kicked puppy. Who would’ve known that inviting him to one of her games would get her that kicked puppy look?

“Um, I don’t know,” he’d said softly, eyes averted guiltily. “Seems like it should be for family and friends.”

“We’re friends, aren’t we?” Lauren had said, suddenly wanting to take that scared look out of his eyes.

Tony had looked at her dad then, wanting him to say no, wanting him to take the decision out of his hands. But her dad had smiled at him, kissed him gently, and told him that of course they were friends, and he should come if he wanted to.

Tony had curled himself up in the corner of the sofa, pulling away from them, and had made quiet excuses before leaving right after the movie ended.

Lauren had tried to apologize to her father. “Dad, it was just an invitation to the game,” she’d whined. “I didn’t mean to scare him away.”

Her father had hugged her tightly. “Sweetheart,” he’d said, his deep voice rumbling in his chest, “Tony’s fragile. He always has been. He hasn’t had a lot of real love in his life and he doesn’t know how to react when people offer it to him. He ran because he doesn’t know what to do with his feelings.”

Lauren sighed. “He sounds pretty high maintenance, Dad,” she’d told him.

“He can be,” Dad had said fondly. “But when he comes around, and you know he’ll come around, it’ll be worth it. To know that you, Lauren, put him even a little more at ease with himself, and with us, makes me real happy. You’re a good girl, kid. And give Tony the benefit of the doubt. You’ll see how he rewards you.”

“Not the way he rewards you, I hope,” Lauren had snarked.

“No,” Dad had laughed. “I seriously hope not cause then I’d have to kick his ass. And yours.”

“He only has eyes for you, Dad,” Lauren had said.

And her dad had sighed sadly but not responded which made her curious and a little worried. But again, the whole staying out of her dad’s relationships rule that she and Cassie had was a good one. Dad knew he could talk to her if he needed to, but she wasn’t going to pry. And she certainly was not going to meddle.

And then she had been busy the rest of the week with school and practice and her part time job and she had hardly even been home much and didn’t hardly think about Tony. And then it was the day of the big game. She was the starting pitcher. She was completely focused on that.

It was the top of third inning and she had just struck out the first batter. While waiting for the next batter to come up to the plate, Lauren looked over to where her dad was sitting, in the front row, surrounded by her teammates’ parents. The team tried to get tickets for the team for the parents in a block together, so they could also bond in the way their daughters did. She saw how they were all standing to let someone in and she found herself grinning and waving, and Tony in his NCIS hat and windbreaker grinned back and waved a little self-consciously before he settled down next to her dad.

She watched as Dad leaned over, kissed his cheek and took his hand.

Then she focused, shook off the catcher’s first signal, nodded to the second, wound up, and let loose. And before she knew it, the next two batters were toast – a fly out and a ground out. One-two-three innings were a real high. She ran into the dugout, high fiving her teammates and grinning happily, she poked her head out of the dugout and waved to their cheering section and she laughed as Tony put his fingers in his mouth and wolf-whistled.

She sat back, grinning at the sight. Tony had turned his hat around, bill to the back, and had a camera slung around his neck. He looked happy and excited, and more importantly, Dad was practically glowing like the sun with happiness.

Her teammates started asking her, who was the man with her dad?

“His boyfriend,” Lauren kept telling them, enjoying both their surprise and devastation.

“No, really, who is that dude? He’s fucking gorgeous!”

“My dad’s boyfriend,” Lauren explained patiently. “And ew. He’s old. He’s like, in his forties! And did I not mention that he’s my _dad’s_ boyfriend?”

“Your dad has a boyfriend?”

“Yep. Tony. That’s him. Right there.” She kept grinning and waving as Tony smiled his huge smile and waved back to her.

When she was up to bat and got a hit, she landed on first, beating out the throw, and she turned to the spectators in time to see Tony jump up and plant a huge kiss on her dad’s mouth right in front of everyone. He whistled loudly and took a bunch of pictures. And after the game, Tony insisted on taking her and Dad out for a celebratory lunch, even though she could tell he was hiding his exhaustion.

He’d probably worked through the night, Lauren thought. But he was still so vibrant and energized by the game that nobody else would have known that he was exhausted. A couple of her teammates and their moms tagged along, and Tony was charming to them all.

At the end of the meal, and they were all leaving, Tony hugged her, shook hands with her teammates, winked and flirted with their moms, and then Lauren watched as her dad pulled him in for a thorough kiss. Tony blushed prettily, smiled shyly at her dad, and then glanced at his watch, just as his phone went off. He cursed before he answered with a curt, “DiNozzo.” And then he turned away, responding monosyllabically, nodding and frowning, and magically a notebook appeared in his hand and he was scribbling furiously in it. The call didn’t last long.

“Gotta run,” he said apologetically to her dad. “Case heated up.”

Dad pulled him in for another kiss. “Don’t work too hard, baby. You haven’t slept in how many days, now?”

“Meh,” Tony grinned and leaned in for one more kiss. “I’ll sleep when I’m dead. Nice to meet you all,” Tony smiled at her teammates and their moms. “Great game. See ya later, Lauren! You’re a _stud_ , chica!”

Lauren laughed, as that was exactly what she’d said to him when he admitted to being a two-sport varsity athlete back in the day.

Tony ran off, pulling his phone back out, and barking into it as he ran to his car. His windbreaker was unzipped, and as he ran, the gun holstered on his belt gleamed dully in the sun.

“What does he do?” Lauren’s teammates asked her.

“He’s a Federal Agent,” she told them. Then she giggled as they sighed and blushed. “You guys do get that he’s my dad’s boyfriend, right?” she kept asking them.

“Is he strictly into men, though? Or is he bisexual?”

Lauren rolled her eyes and shook her head. That was a question she would _never_ ask Tony. Right. Hey, Tony. I know you’re my dad’s boyfriend and everything, but we were wondering where you might rate yourself on the Kinsey scale? Are we talking strictly dicks only should apply, or is there some flexibility there? Yeah. Right. She was not opening that can of worms, no sir. Especially if her teammates were going to ask her overly personal questions like that about him, or about her dad, or worse, once, someone asked her if she thought that Tony and her dad together might be interested in picking up a third for a threesome. Ew. Did nobody get that they were talking about her dad? And her dad’s boyfriend?

But her dad was right about how Tony might reward her for including him in her life, whether he was ready for it or not. A week after the game, a large yellow envelope was slipped under her bedroom door sometime during the night while she was asleep. It contained some really gorgeous photographs of her on the mound, her batting, the teams interacting, candid photos of their loyal band of supporters, and a few amazing shots of her father. Tony was a talented photographer. It was a shame that most of his work tended towards crime scenes and dead bodies. She wondered if people ever looked at his professional body of work and think that he was wasted doing crime scenes and dead bodies.

She gave a few of the photos to her father for his office and ended up framing one of them for herself. It was a picture of her on the mound, game face on, squinting, glove up to her face, partially obscuring the lower half of her face. She was getting her signal from the catcher. Her blonde hair, a fat braid lying over her shoulder, gleamed in the sun, her hat pulled down low over her eyes, as when she was little her father had said she looked more intimidating like that. And being the tiny blond girl playing in the co-ed little league, she’d needed every advantage to win against the boys. And she still did the same thing with her hat as old habits died hard. She could almost place the exact moment that Tony had taken this picture. The catcher had signaled a high fastball, and she’d nodded, flipped the braid back, before she started her wind up. But what captivated her about this photo was how in the moment she had been: completely focused on the catcher and the batter vibrating with nervous energy, waiting at the plate. In that moment, nothing else mattered. Only these two people existed in her world. And it was both incredibly intense and amazingly liberating. And Tony had somehow managed to capture all of her emotions and expectations and focus and energy in this one photograph. It was an amazing photograph.

He waved away all of her thanks but she managed to get her feelings across by sitting up with him one night, when he came down from her father’s bedroom looking spooked. Sometimes he had nightmares, her father’d said. So she served him tea and ice cream and sat with him and watched some sad movie playing on one of the Spanish channels. Tony obviously understood the movie with no difficulty, even though there had been no subtitles. And she said nothing when he sniffled and cried silent tears at the death of one of the characters. For his part, Tony said nothing when she put her arm around him. He just allowed himself to relax, snuggling into her body with a sigh. There had been no whiff of anything but companionship. Tony was a classy dude and he wasn’t going to hit on her when her dad was obviously banging the bejesus out of him every chance they got. But Tony seemed to need a little bit of extra attention and he tried so hard to hide it that she knew that both she and her father felt the need to give it to him unasked. They wanted to indulge him, every so often.

High maintenance, all right, she’d snorted to herself. Definitely damaged. But he was sweet, and he made her father so happy. She supposed that she wouldn’t mind helping her father teach him how to be more relaxed and more a part of the family if he would loosen up and stop fooling himself about his attachment to Dad.

And then she learned that he was also a fabulous cook. She threw her rules about interfering in her father’s relationships out the window and told him that they needed to keep Tony forever. Even if her friends and their parents started hitting on not just her father but also his hot boyfriend. Which had made Dad laugh a little sadly.

And the first time she’d heard one of her coaches describe her explicit fantasies about a threesome with both her father and Tony, she’d decided never again to walk through her locker room without earbuds in her ears and music playing loudly. No amount of brain bleach was going to erase the snippet that she’d heard and there was no way she was ever going to subject herself to any more of that kind of talk.

Locker room chatter wasn’t just disgusting and demeaning to the objects of their affection when men engaged in it, apparently. And Jesus Christ. Would they please fucking let up on it? Or find someone else to talk about? This was her dad and his boyfriend, for crying out loud!

**Author's Note:**

> I honestly don't remember the song I was listening to when I wrote this. I pretty much wrote the bulk of the story in one night, late summer/early fall last year. I think I wrote it almost directly after I wrote Hit the Road. But I just never felt completely happy with it.
> 
> Oh well. It's done now. More or less. :)
> 
> Also I broke the pattern and didn't have the word "Road" in the title of this story. Whoops. I just can't think of any phrases that fit the bill for this one. And I'm sleepy. :D If you have any suggestions, let me know!
> 
> As always, thank you in advance. :D
> 
> -j  
> xo


End file.
